Disposable articles of the type generally known as disposable washcloths, wet wipes or cleansing wipes for use in a variety of personal hygiene care applications are well known in the art. A variety of such products that utilize a basesheet impregnated with a solution adapted to cleanse, moisturize and/or revitalize the skin are commercially available. Such products, also known as bathing or bath kits, often contain multiple sheets impregnated with a solution that can be heated to a temperature approximately equal to or above normal body temperature about 98xc2x0 F. (about 37xc2x0 C.). Because of the efficiency and ease of use, these products have been adopted for use in hospitals and long-term care facilities to provide a less messy and a less time consuming means for bathing a bed-bound patient. In recent years, the number of elderly adults who remain in their homes or living with an adult caretaker has increased. As a result, home health care providers are beginning to adopt disposable washcloths as means to ease the time and logistical burdens of caring for an elderly person who may not be able to use the typical home bathroom facilities to bathe.
The bathing kits currently available are typically packaged for a single use. In other words, such bathing kits are intended to be heated once and all of the individual sheets used during the course of a single bath. However, in the home setting, care providers typically do not follow the same protocol as caregivers in a hospital or long-term care facility setting. Thus, a home care provider may only use a portion of a bath kit often retaining the remaining sheets for future use. However, the solutions and the basesheets in these bathing kits have not been formulated to withstand multiple heatings. Therefore, the solution and basesheets are susceptible to thermal degradation of critical components such as the preservatives, surfactants, and/or fragrances that may compromise the integrity and efficacy of the bathing kit. In addition, undesirable chemical breakdown products may be generated by multiple heatings of the solution and basesheets that may result in malodor and/or may result in irritation of the skin.
Now, a disposable washcloth article has been developed that may be heated to a select temperature at least twice while maintaining chemical stability. By selecting a basesheet and solution formulation that is resistant to thermal degradation, the disposable washcloth article can be heated multiple times without the creation of undesirable chemical breakdown products. Such undesirable chemical breakdown products often may cause skin irritation and/or malodor or may reduce the efficacy of the product to efficiently clean and/or moisturize the skin surface. In addition, the care provider has more flexibility in deciding how many individual washcloths to use in any given bathing situation.
Briefly, this invention relates to a disposable article for use as a washcloth. The disposable article includes an aqueous solution incorporated onto a basehseet. The aqueous solution includes a fragrance, at least one mild surfactant, at least one moisturizer or humectant, and at least one preservative. The disposable article is capable of being heated to a select temperature at least twice while maintaining chemical stability.
In another embodiment, the disposable article includes an aqueous solution incorporated onto a nonwoven basesheet to form a moist basesheet. The aqueous solution includes a fragrance, at least one mild surfactant, at least one moisturizer or humectant, and at least one preservative. The disposable article is capable of being heated to a temperature of from about 37xc2x0 C. to about 75xc2x0 C. at least twice while maintaining chemical stability.
In a further embodiment, the invention relates to a disposable article including an aqueous solution incorporated onto a nonwoven basesheet to form a moist basesheet. The aqueous solution includes a fragrance, at least one mild surfactant that is thermostable to at least about 75xc2x0 C., at least one moisturizer or humectant that is thermostable to at least about 75xc2x0 C., and at least one preservative that is thermostable up to at least about 75xc2x0 C. The fragrance includes at least two aroma compounds each having at least one base note which is thermostable up to at least about 75xc2x0 C. At least one of the aroma compounds is an essential oil. The disposable article is capable of being heated to a temperature of from about 37xc2x0 C. to about 75xc2x0 C. at least twice while maintaining chemical stability.
A method of using the present invention includes providing a plurality of individual basesheets having an aqueous solution incorporated thereon in a package. The package is heated to a select temperature and a number of individual basesheets are removed from the package for use. The package containing the remaining individual basesheets may then be reheated at least once while maintaining chemical stability.